Anchor means

ABSTRACT

A self-embedding anchor comprises a block of non-buoyant material to which is attached a pivotable blade and an actuator to cause the blade to swing into engagement with the surface on which the anchor rests. The anchor also includes at least one blade slidably mounted on the block for movement by another actuator.

United States Patent 1 1 Rhodes [451 July 24, 1973.

[ ANCHOR MEANS [75] Inventor: Paul Cephas Rhodes, I-Iarrogate,

England [73] Assignee: Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, London, England 22 Filed: Jan. 29, 1971 211 Appl.N0.: 110,847

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 18, 1970 Great Britain 7,791/70 [52] U.S. Cl. 114/206 R, 52/158, 52/162, 114/206 A [51] Int. Cl B36b 21/28 [58] Field of Search 114/206 R, 206 A,

114/207, 208 R, 208 A; S2/158-160, 162, 155; 61/53, 68; 85/3 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,187,858 6/1965 Des Champs 52/160 3,577,949 5/1971 Mueller et al. 114/206 A 3,078,931 2/1963 Moore 114/206 A X 2,408,560 10/1946 Keehn 85/3 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,040,155 8/1966 Great Britain 114/208 R Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Galen L. Barefoot Attorney-Cushman, Darby 8L Cushman [57] ABSTRACT A self-embedding anchor comprises a block of non buoyant material to which is attached a pivotable blade and an actuator to cause the blade to swing into engagement with the surface on which the anchor rests. The anchor also includes at least one blade slidably mounted on the block for movement by another actuator.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures ANCHOR MEANS This invention relates to anchoring means and in particular to means wherein the anchor can be precisely located on the sea bed.

Conventional anchors, as for example the Admiralty or swinging fluke anchors, require a certain amount of drag along the sea bed to embed the anchor sufficiently for a secure hold. Cruder forms of anchor, such as large blocks of iron or concrete, rely upon sheer weight for security and are accordingly cumbersome and difficult to lay.

In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention we provide an anchoring means comprising a block of non-buoyant material, at least one blade slideably mounted on the block so as to be capable of movement in a downward direction and a pivoted blade attached to the underside of the block with actuating means linked thereto to cause it to move in a downward direction.

The main bulk of an anchoring means according to this invention comprises the block of non-buoyant material which may be for example iron or concrete but this is only of sufficient size to sink rapidly to the sea bed and is thus not cumbersome or difficult to handle.

A pivoted blade is arranged to be actuated in a downward direction after an anchoring means has come to rest on the sea bottom and thus by the downward movement of the blade it is driven intothe sea bed at the point of coming to rest so precisely locating an anchor at this point. A blade may take various forms but it is preferred that it should be of a form such that it is readily driven into the sea bed during the pivoting motion but is difficulty moved or removed once embedded. One such form of blade comprises a first flat blade attachedat its upper end to the pivot and arranged so as to present its edge to the sea bed when pivoted; at the lower end of this blade is attached at right angles a second blade which is bent to a radius of curvature substantially equal to the length of the first blade. In this way as the combined blade is turned down about the pivot the only resistanceto embedding is the small resistance of the edges of the first and secondblades. Once embedded the combined blade will resist withdrawal or movement by forces acting in a multiplicity of directions.

One method of causing a pivoted blade to move in a downward direction is by means of a rod attached at one end to the blade, the other end being slideably carried in a tube wherein a spring or explosive actuating means is also carried. At the appropriate time the spring or explosive is actuated to move the rod and blade down and to effect the embedding. Actuation of an explosive or spring means may be effected by remote control from the surface or manually. be a diver. It is also possible andit is preferred to holdthe spring or firing means under tension by. for example a water soluble or water-weakened pin which after an interval no longer retains the spring or pin and then allows the embeddingsequence to commence. Other alternative actuating methods which may be used are, for example, those which are initiated by the hydrostatic pressure or the pressure developed by chemical reaction with water when an anchor is sunk in water. Suitable stops may be provided to limit the swivelling movement of a blade in one or both directions.

In addition or alternatively to a pivoted blade anchoring means according to this invention may comprise a blade or blades slideably mounted on the block and designed to be driven into the sea bed either by mechanical or explosive means as hereinbefore described or by drag on the anchor cable. It is preferred that such slideably mounted blade (or blades) is: attached to the anchor cable, when embedding of the blade. may take place without displacement of the anchor from its original position.

The invention will now be illustrated by way of example with reference to the attached drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a general view of an anchoring means according to this invention showing a pivoted blade in its lowered position and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross section of an explosive actuating means.

Referring to FIG. 1 a block of concrete 1 carries in a recess in its underside a pivoted. blade 2 comprising a vertical blade 3 connected to a pivot (not shown) mounted so that a narrow edge leads when the blade moves about the pivot and a horizontal curved blade 4 attached to the lower extremity of blade 3 the curvature being of a radius equal to the distance from the pivot to the blade 4. To the blade 3 is pivotally attached an actuating rod 5 the upper end of which slides within a tube 6 mountedin block 1 and fittedat its upper end, which extends above the block 1, with explosive actuating means the firing mechanism 7 of which is shown in detail in FIG. 2 and is described below. Also mounted in the block 1 are twotubes 8 in which two parallel rods 9 are slideably and telescopically mounted. To the protruding ends of rods 9 is attached a U-shaped bar 10 the limbs of which are flattened into triangular blades 11 with the apices pointing downwards and towards the end of the block in the direction in which the blade 2 moves when actuated.

In FIG. 1 two anchor cables 12 are shown and these are attached to the bar 10 and pass through loops 13 affixed to the upper surface of the block 1. To assist in handling the anchoring means eyebolts are fixed inthe block 1 and two of these 14 are shown in FIG. I fixed at the lower front face of block 1..

Referring now to FIG. 2 a tube 6 has at its end a breech 15 into which a blank cartridge 16 may be inserted and a firing pin 17. To the side of tube 6 is attached a bracket, only one limb l8of which is shown in FIG. 2, carrying a springl9 loaded firing hammer 20 shown in the cockedposition in which it is maintained by a trigger mechanism consisting of a trigger rod 21 which pivots about a fixed pin 22 and a retaining pin 23. t

In operation th whole anchoring means is sunk to the desired position on the sea bed andcither manually by a diver or automatically by making pin 23 of water soluble or water-weakened material trigger rod 21 is released thus releasing'firing hammer 20 underthe action of spring 19 against the firing pin 17 discharging the cartridge 16 and causing the rod 5 to move downwardly out of the tube 6. Thus the blade 2 swings downwardly in a plane perpendicular to the lower surface of the block land embed itself in the seabed firmly positioning the anchor. As a subsidiary fixing of the anchor, drag on the anchor cables 12 will cause the bar 10 and the integral blades 11 to slide downwardly in thedirection of the front face of the block I, as rods 9 telescope into tubes 8. Blades 11 then penetrate into the sea bed and additionally fix the anchor to position.

Thus it can be seen that an anchor according to this invention may be accurately fixed in position without relying upon drag across the sea bed to secure it in position as in conventional anchors.

At anchoring locations where the sea bed is somewhat resistant to penetration it may be advantageous to modify the leading edge of blade 4 so as to present a sharper edge for initial penetration of the sea-bed. Likewise for situations where penetration is not too difficult the leading ends of blades 11 may be made blunter and the blades broader for better retention after embedding.

In the forgoing embodiment as illustrated in the drawings blades 2 and 11 move in the same direction for embedding, they may equally well be arranged to move in opposite directions which may produce a more stable anchorage in some circumstances.

We claim:

1. An anchor comprising a block of non-buoyant material, a blade attached to the underside of the block for pivotable movement about a fixed point in a plane per- I pendicular to the underside of the block and actuating means linked to the blade to cause the blade to swing in a downward direction so as to be capable of driving into the surface on which the anchor rests.

2. An anchor according to claim 1 including at least one blade slideably mounted on the block for downward movement by other actuating means so as to be capable of penetrating the surface on which the anchor rests.

3. An anchor according to claim 2 wherein two blades are slideably mounted on the block.

4. An anchor according to claim 1 wherein the actuating means is activated by explosive means.

5. An anchor according to claim 4 wherein a spring operated hammer activates the explosive.

6. An anchor according to claim 5 wherein the spring operated hammer is retained in the inoperative position by a water weakened means.

7. An anchor according to claim 3 wherein an anchor cable attached to the slideably mounted blades actuates their downward movement.

8. An anchor as in claim 1 wherein the non-buoyant material is concrete.

9. An anchor as in claim 1 wherein the non-buoyant material is iron. 

1. An anchor comprising a block of non-buoyant material, a blade attached to the underside of the block for pivotable movement about a fixed point in a plane perpendicular to the underside of the block and actuating means linked to the blade to cause the blade to swing in a downward direction so as to be capable of driving into the surface on which the anchor rests.
 2. An anchor according to claim 1 including at least one blade slideably mounted on the block for downward movement by other actuating means so as to be capable of penetrating the surface on which the anchor rests.
 3. An anchor according to claim 2 wherein two blades are slideably mounted on the block.
 4. An anchor according to claim 1 wherein the actuating means is activated by explosive means.
 5. An anchor according to claim 4 wherein a spring operated hammer activates the explosive.
 6. An anchor according to claim 5 wherein the spring operated hammer is retained in the inoperative position by a water weakened means.
 7. An anchor according to claim 3 wherein an anchor cable attached to the slideably mounted blades actuates their downward movement.
 8. An anchor as in claim 1 wherein the non-buoyant material is concrete.
 9. An anchor as in claim 1 wherein the non-buoyant material is iron. 